


Never Look Away From a Second Chance

by nartista, NeutronStarChild



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, InuParents - Freeform, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:02:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28796598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nartista/pseuds/nartista, https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeutronStarChild/pseuds/NeutronStarChild
Summary: It happened so fast. Tōga saw the streak of silver hair and a flash of golden eyes in the park near where he walked. Achildwho had dog ears and Inu features. But it wasn't until he saw that child run into the arms of his mother that Tōga knew.Izayoi had gotten pregnant from their fateful night together three years ago, and hadn't told him. So at that moment, Tōga was staring at his own child. For Izayoi's part, she only thought to protect Inuyasha from the scrutiny of Tōga bitter divorce from Inukimi, and the intense scrutiny that would have come at her being theother womanand Inuyasha being born out of wedlock.Now that the truth is out, can Tōga and Izayoi find each other again? And will Inuyasha get to meet his father?Story forInuParents Day 2021With commissioned art fromnartista!
Relationships: Inu no Taishou/Izayoi
Comments: 46
Kudos: 71
Collections: Divergent Adventures of Inuyasha, Inu Parents Day 2021





	1. An Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Betaed by [Fawn_Eyed_Girl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fawn_Eyed_Girl) and [Ruddcatha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruddcatha)

If Tōga had chosen any other park on any other day, he would not have been there, at exactly that moment, looking into golden eyes so like his own, taking in silver hair that reflected the light, just like his, and… downy triangular dog ears perched atop his head. A sign that this child was at least _partly_ Inu yōkai.

The sight of the silver hair had arrested his stroll, and the brief glance in his golden eyes had been enough to hold Tōga hostage before he had the good sense to duck behind a tree. Tōga stared, mesmerized, perhaps too long. He had too many questions, felt too many feelings. And while there were memories swirling through his mind, one scratched at him. A memory he sometimes tried to forget, but one he always came back to in the dark of night when he was at his loneliest.

“Baby! Time to go!” A voice he would never forget— _hers_ —called into the playground.

“Okay mama!” the golden-eyed child called back, scrambling off of the multi-colored jungle gym he’d been climbing.

When he bounded into the arms of _her_ , Tōga jumped, nearly tripping backwards over a root of the tree that he was currently hiding behind.

Izayoi—the woman he could never forget, the one who held his biggest regret in the palm of her hand—reached down and clutched the little boy lovingly, nuzzling his nose and rubbing his little ears. Izayoi was the mother of an Inu hanyō. A child, Tōga couldn’t help but believe, was likely _his._

Why the _hell_ hadn’t she told him?  
It was a question that was ricocheting through his mind, leaving dents on the inside of his skull.  
Because unfortunately, he also thought he knew the answer.

Izayoi was his former secretary. She was the woman he could not conceal his feelings for. The woman who… had their affair, as short as it was, gotten out, would have ruined him (and definitely her).

Because lord knows his ex-wife had not made it easy. Tōga had known for a long time that he did not love Inukimi, but her family was powerful and she had a strong bloodline. And in the days of old, that was enough for demons to marry, and to produce children. Sesshōmaru was proof of that; he was, in many ways, a perfect Inu yōkai. But Sesshōmaru had inherited his mother’s coldness, a coldness that had slowly eroded away Tōga’s joy. And before Tōga lost his own heart, he had to get away.

So, he’d filed the paperwork, asking for their miserable marriage to end. Perhaps he had been naïve, because Tōga could not _imagine_ that Inukimi was happy either. They mixed like oil and gasoline, where the minutest spark could set them both aflame and burn everything else down. But… Inukimi had _not_ seen Tōga’s offer as an out; she saw it as a grievous _insult_ , and used every last ounce of her energy to make Tōga pay.

She made Tōga pay by leveraging Sesshōmaru.  
She made Tōga pay by hiring the most bloodthirsty lawyers she could find.  
She made Tōga pay by insisting he was breaking a mate bond (something unheard of amongst demons, and categorically untrue).  
She made Tōga pay by insisting her “lifestyle” included fineries she’d never even thought about before he’d given her that paperwork.  
And finally, she made Tōga pay by digging into every corner of his life and exposing it to the world.

It had taken eighteen months. And they had been the worst eighteen months of Tōga’s life.  
Except for one thing: one sliver of sunshine in that dark and murky time: _Izayoi_.

How Tōga had ever been so lucky to have found and hired Izayoi as his personal assistant as he attempted to manage Taisho Corp., the venture capital firm he’d started nearly a century ago, while everything else went to hell, was beyond him. Izayoi, though she was human, just _got him_. She knew when to come to his office with a camomile tea (because the scent could soothe him). She knew when to call him on his shit (often, he had to admit). And she knew when to say something, usually to tease him or to tell him he did something well. And she knew when to say nothing.

That was probably how that night had happened. How Tōga had found himself, now dealing with Inukimi’s _fourth_ set of bloodthirsty lawyers, that he’d let it happen.

Taisho Corp. had put on its annual fundraising gala that year: for Hakurei House, a charity that specialized in helping broken families get back on their feet (with a special eye on mixed human/demon families). It was a masquerade ball that year, and the theme was ‘predator and prey’. Izayoi had come up with the idea.

“Obscuring our faces will help people mingle honestly, without worrying about hierarchies,” she’d so proudly declared. “Let each person decide what mask they want. It’ll be fun.”

Tōga would have said yes even if it was a bad idea, but it wasn’t, like all the rest of Izayoi’s ideas.

And the ball was perfect.

Tōga remembered seeing Izayoi across the room, adorned in an ornamental bunny mask, dressed in a flowing white gown that had little accents of teal. _Teal_ , Tōga noticed, that happened to be the same color as the stripes along his face (and well… his body, but Izayoi _definitely_ didn’t know that).

He remembered feeling his yōki surge at her, dressed as a prey animal adorned in his colors.

“You look good enough to eat.” He really had said that. He blamed the champagne he’d consumed, and the long nights at work, and the intense stress of the divorce.

“Down dog,” Izayoi had said, touching his chest softly, her bubbly personality amplified by the champagne she too had drunk.

[ ](https://nartista-digital.tumblr.com/post/640520148673085440/the-masquerade-happy-inuparentsday-everyone-i)

Commissioned Artwork by [nartista](https://nartista-digital.tumblr.com/)

* * *

And maybe that would have been the end of it. A brief flirtation, a little joy at the masquerade that put a smile on Tōga’s face in the sea of falsely upbeat underlings. But it hadn’t ended there. Because that night, Tōga had returned to his office, to avoid both the false smiles of the party _and_ the nightmare waiting for him at home.

It hadn’t ended because Izayoi stumbled into Tōga’s office, her bunny mask now sitting atop her head.

“Oh, I thought you’d gone home,” Izayoi had said.  
“Just… avoiding everything,” Tōga had admitted.  
“Even me?” Izayoi had asked.  
“Never you,” Tōga had answered.

It hadn’t ended, because the moment after ‘never you’ had slipped from his lips, Izayoi had kissed him, her tongue finding its way into his mouth so rapidly that he hadn’t been able to resist. And he’d kissed her back, just as passionately, just as desperately. Because Izayoi smelled divine and moaned when he touched her.

It hadn’t ended because she’d whispered in his ear that she thought about him all the time, _inappropriately_ , and hated to see what the ice queen (her nickname for Inukimi) was doing to him.

It hadn’t ended because he’d never wanted a woman the way he wanted Izayoi. The way she’d started to unbutton his shirt and tug on his hair. The way they tumbled onto the plush carpet of his office, unable to resist the pull of the other.

It hadn’t ended until after Izayoi was snuggled up in his mokomoko, breathing deeply in the satisfied afterglow of their lovemaking.

And then, _everything_ had ended.

“I’m so sorry Tōga.” He still had Izayoi’s notice, claiming she was pursuing other opportunities. “If I stay, I would ruin you.” Tōga also remembered the tears Izayoi had tried so hard not to shed as she walked away. “Be well, Tōga. Until we meet again.”

That was four years ago.  
And they’d never met again.

Not until this day.  
The day Tōga discovered that he had a second son.

Tōga’s urge to run to Izayoi, to his _son_ , was so strong that he whined as he backed away. He couldn’t corner them in the park, but… he also couldn’t pretend he didn’t now know that he’d unknowingly fathered a child with Izayoi.

His child.

But as Tōga retreated to regroup, to try to figure out what to do next, he couldn’t help but feel a smile come to his face. Fate had answered his plea to find a way to see Izayoi again, even as his heart shattered that she hadn’t told him _he had a son_.

At least now he knew.  
And he had faith that he would figure out what he needed to do next.  
Because, no matter what else was to come, Tōga wanted to be in his child’s life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The masquerade referenced here is a really fun homage in this one to both [heavenin--hell's](https://heavenin--hell.tumblr.com/) image and Dawnrider's fic _[Your Lying Smile](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21535180/chapters/51335665)_. If you haven't seen heavenin--hell's [art](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21535180/chapters/58853134) or read Dawn's incredible story, you definitely should!


	2. Her Decision

_I saw you at the playground today. He’s mine, isn’t he?  
_Izayoi’s hands had shaken when she saw the text message.

She’d never deleted his number out of her address book. Just in case... in case Izayoi finally got up the courage to… tell him.

It was easier. Pretending Inuyasha had been the product of a one night stand with an unknown demon. Humans never really took much time to pay attention to the details, to suss out _which_ demon might have fathered a child. And Izayoi had left New York the _moment_ she’d discovered that she was pregnant. Because if anyone found out _whose_ child she was carrying, the eruption would have been felt around the world.

Because Tōga Taisho was one of the most powerful demons in the world, running one of the most powerful companies in the world, and at the time that Izayoi had… let her affections for her boss be known, he had been going through the messiest divorce in the world.

Izayoi loved Tōga. She couldn’t help it. The way, even when his face was downcast and his body looked defeated, he always saved a smile for her. She loved the way he took time for every employee who wanted to meet with him, whether that was talking with the custodial staff about better working conditions, or to the vice presidents about the new outreach effort he was opening to offset housing costs for low income families (he always said that he liked the cleaning staff a _ton_ more than the VPs).

It didn’t help matters that Izayoi found Tōga to be the most attractive man she’d ever set eyes on. Tōga’s hair was long, moonspun silver that seemed to glow of its own inner light, and his molten gold eyes reflected the light in his hair, leaving them constantly alight. And when he saw something he liked (especially _her_ ), they _twinkled_. The mokomoko he often wore as a scarf was so lush that a single finger would sink into it, embraced in its silken softness. And finally, even though she could only see the cerulean stripes that adorned his face, Izayoi had plenty of idea that they must paint the rest of his perfectly muscled form. And he was _tall_ ; Izayoi only came up to Tōga’s shoulders, but somehow him towering over her only made her want him more.

Mostly it had been fine. She’d been careful, kept it as friendly as she could without ever overstepping her bounds. She made sure that Tōga’s soon-to-be-ex-wife never so much as _sniffed_ the scent of her on him, because the last thing she’d ever want is to make Tōga’s divorce worse.

Then the night of the masquerade happened.

Izayoi had been so pleased with how it turned out, and the bunny mask she’d found was _perfect_. Had she hoped Tōga would look at her in that dress? Perhaps… Had she chosen the flowing white dress that hugged her body _just right_ with the cerulean trim _specifically_ because the blue matched the color of the markings on Tōga’s face? Perhaps…

Had she had more champagne than she should have?  
Definitely.

Because _perhaps_ , if she’d been a smidge less inebriated, everything that happened after would not have happened.

[ ](https://nartista-digital.tumblr.com/post/640602099384713216/after-sex-snuggles-continuation)

Artwork commission by [nartista](https://nartista-digital.tumblr.com/)

* * *

Then again, she would not now have Inuyasha without it, and Inuyasha was the greatest gift she could possibly imagine.

Izayoi had resigned the day after their night together. It was heartbreaking, leaving Tōga to find a new assistant when that _demon_ of a wife of his was stalking everything he did, but that was also _why_ she needed to resign. After she’d been with him, kissed him, _loved_ him, she wouldn’t be able to act how she needed to, how he _needed her to_. Because Inukimi had eyes on her, and on nearly every woman who worked with Tōga, just _hoping_ to find one she could use for leverage. (The only saving grace was that Inukimi considered humans _below her_ , so the scrutiny on Izayoi was much more tolerable than on any of her demonic colleagues).

Even with the lessened scrutiny, Inukimi would sniff her out; she would become a new stick with which to beat Tōga, and Izayoi refused to be leverage.

Leaving Taisho Corp, leaving _Tōga_ , had been so much harder than she thought it would be, and she assuaged her sorrows by reminding herself that when all was said and done, she could always get back in contact with him. _After_ his divorce with Inukimi was completely said and done.

But then Izayoi was _late_.  
And Izayoi’s one night with Tōga was no longer a single wonderful night.  
Izayoi knew: Tōga’s child would be easily recognizable, easily _trackable_.

So Izayoi fled New York.  
She had to.

Izayoi had paid a _lot_ of attention to the newspapers when she was his assistant, because Tōga was in them _frequently_. She knew how quickly her name (and her child’s) would paint the pages, how quickly her privacy would disappear, and how ravenously Inukimi would consume her and their baby in order to make Tōga pay.

So Izayoi ‘disappeared.’ Her Aunt Kaede ran an art gallery in Sedona, and offered her both a job and a place to stay. Izayoi was on the plane before she’d even confirmed the pregnancy with a blood test.

And that was still where Izayoi lived. Nearly four years later.

Because, even as Izayoi knew that the divorce was finalized (“a monumental divorce for the Inu no Taisho,” the papers read), she was afraid. Because where Tōga walked, tabloids followed. Because Inukimi was likely _not finished_ being angry and vengeful. Because… Izayoi loved Inuyasha more than anything in the world, and she would _protect_ Inuyasha from the fishbowl he would be living in if word of his parentage got out.

Was that the only reason she’d failed to get in touch with Tōga? To tell him that their tryst had given them a son? Because then Inuyasha would be in the spotlight?

Izayoi looked back down at her phone.

_He’s mine, isn’t he?_

She’d been afraid of something else, something more, something _worse_.  
That Tōga would not want to know his son.  
It was irrational, she knew, because Tōga was above all things, a man of honor.  
Yet, _yet_ … her mind still returned to the _what if_?

Izayoi could handle Tōga turning away from _her_. She was a human with no special powers or abilities. And he was a daiyōkai. But if he turned away from Inuyasha? Well, Izayoi couldn’t bear the thought of anyone turning away from her sweet perfect boy.

Inuyasha was the happiest, gentlest soul she’d ever met. He could be sassy and got himself into boundless trouble. He laughed endlessly, and he made sure that he was gentle with the human kids who played with him, as well as their family tomcat. He would help Aunt Kaede with the laundry and stay up snuggling Izayoi, insisting she read him his favorite: _A Feudal Fairy Tale_ , about a brave hanyō who saved the world.

Things had now changed. On her annual trip to see her parents in New York, somehow, Tōga had discovered that she had a silver-haired dog-eared hanyō child. And now Tōga was asking her about Inuyasha. Maybe… maybe this was fate’s way of telling her that it was time. That finally, she needed to let Tōga meet the wondrous little boy who was his son.

But she wasn’t ready to let her son meet his father… not just yet. Not without assurances. Not without a promise that Tōga, if he wanted to be in Inuyasha’s life, would _never walk away_. A promise, her heart seemed to believe would come easily from Tōga’s lips, even as the flicker of doubt lingered.

As she continued to stare down at the text message that was about to change everything, Izayoi made a decision. She wasn’t going to give into her fear anymore. She was going to embrace fate and see Tōga; she was done hiding from the ‘worsts’ that could happen.

“Mom?” Izayoi called, “I think… we may need to extend our visit.” When her mother popped her head into the sitting room, curiosity lighting her warm brown eyes, Izayoi continued, “I… need to talk to an _old friend_.”

“Ah.” Izayoi’s mother nodded her head. “Take all the time you need. I’ll call my sister and tell her you’re not sure when you’re coming back.”

Izayoi nodded, then looked down at her phone. It was time to answer fate’s message and Tōga’s text.

_I’ve been meaning to tell you._  
Izayoi swallowed down the bile that was rising in her throat, she couldn’t think of what else to say.

_Can I see you?  
_Tōga’s response was immediate. Izayoi wondered if he’d been staring down at his phone waiting for her while she went through her existential crisis.

_Yes—just me though. Where?  
_It was happening. Four years and the birth of one son since she walked out of Tōga’s life, she was going to see him again.

_Coffee shop right by the park you were playing in. Witch’s Brew. Half hour?  
_So that was where Tōga had seen them… Wait.  
Tōga wanted to meet her? In a _half-hour?_ Izayoi nearly choked. 

Tōga was _never_ free enough that he could meet someone with a half-hour notice. It meant that… Tōga had cleared his schedule. For her. For _Inuyasha_.

A wave of grief suddenly hit her. She’d been so careful to protect _herself_ , to protect _her son_ that she had not thought about what it might do to Tōga to find out he’d missed the first three years of his child’s life. She’d been so afraid of what would happen when Inuyasha’s parentage was discovered that she’d never given Tōga _a chance_. The man whose eyes glimmered, who stared down the dragon daiyōkai that had once attempted a hostile takeover of Taisho Corp. The father who _never gave up on Sesshōmaru_ , even through the bitterest battles of the divorce.

Suddenly, Izayoi felt incredibly _selfish_. Because here she was, getting all these wonderful moments with her perfect son. Moments she’d never given Tōga the opportunity to have. And she’d robbed Inuyasha of the chance to know his father. A man that Izayoi herself had wanted to see again the moment she thought it was feasible.

_I’ll be there.  
_Izayoi replied. Then with slight hesitation, she added one more thing.  
_I’m sorry._

“Mom?” Izayoi called her mother back. “I need to go out. Right now. And can you watch Inuyasha for me?”

“Sure Izzybaby,” her mother called back, “do you know how late you’ll be?”

“Not a clue.” Izayoi tried to make her voice light, but it came out labored. “I’m meeting that old friend. We have… a _lot_ to talk about.”

Her mother gave her a knowing nod. “I’ll let Inubaby know that I get his cute little butt all to myself for a while after his nap.” Then, she crossed into the room and kissed the crown of Izayoi’s head. “If your _old friend_ is anything like who he seems to be, then you will be gone for a while, and I pray that you will return here smiling.”

“I hope so too,” Izayoi said, taking a deep breath to keep herself from crying.

“Go on. Don’t be late,” her mother said. “I would not be surprised if he’s already there, waiting for you.”

Izayoi nodded, and headed upstairs to brush her hair and change into a shirt without quite as many claw marks (Inuyasha might’ve been gentle, but his little claws were still _sharp_ ).

After she’d changed into a blue sweater that seemed free of Inuyasha-caused tears, Izayoi threw her sneakers and jacket on, and was off. She walked down the tree-lined street, toward the park with the colorful jungle gym, and she pondered.

What if she’d told Tōga the moment she found out she was pregnant?  
What if she’d stayed in New York?  
Would their lives be different? Better? _Worse_?

At least she could tell Tōga that she was trying to protect Inuyasha.  
And she could tell Tōga that she planned on telling him, when Inuyasha was old enough to deal with the scrutiny of the fishbowl.  
That if Tōga held any ill will, he could take it out on _her_.

And that she never regretted any of it—the night she was with _him_ , and every day with Inuyasha.  
She just wanted to make sure that if he wanted to be in Inuyasha’s life, that it was a _commitment_ that she expected him to keep. (And _god_ did she hope he wanted to.)

Before she knew it, the Witch’s Brew was before her. Izayoi stopped, trying to suppress her trembling. It was the scariest moment of her life, second only to the day that the little plus sign appeared on the pregnancy test.

_You can do this_. Izayoi thought, and she willed her feet to propel her forward, through the door, and to the reunion she had been avoiding for nearly four years.


	3. Second Chances

It had been a grand total of 24 hours since Tōga had seen his son, and… for the first time in _decades_ , he’d called off of work. Because he couldn’t think of anything but Izayoi, and of his son… _their_ son.

The paperwork was the easiest part: a trust fund, to be given to the child when he turned 21, college tuition wherever he wanted to go, fast-tracked paperwork to officially claim the child as his son. He wanted to pay Izayoi the child support he owed… for _everything_ he owed her.

Because the picture he kept replaying in his mind, of that bright little smile and those affectionate little snuggles told Tōga everything he needed to know. That that small silver-haired boy with his Inu ears was _loved_.

_I’m sorry_.

That was the last message Izayoi had sent him. And part of him wondered if she was going to meet with him at all. But Izayoi was a woman of her word, a woman of honor. She’d made the choices she made for a good _reason_ , even as it killed him inside to know that those choices had been necessary.

Then he saw her—walking slowly toward the coffee shop, her eyes lost but her feet sure of their path. Her hair was still the same shimmering obsidian that he remembered seeing every morning on his way into his office. Her cheeks blushed from the fall cold, and her lips, pink and full, were pursed. And her _eyes_ (Tōga had always been hypnotized by Izayoi’s eyes; they shimmered like they were tree-branches after a rain reflecting sunlight), at that moment, were sad, and scared, and full of doubt.

Tōga wanted to run out of the shop and hold her and promise her everything was going to be alright. Even as he himself was not sure.

Izayoi had had his child.  
And had not told him.  
And he needed her to tell him why (even as he was sure he knew the devastating answer).

As if she could feel his eyes on her, pleading with her to join him, Izayoi took a single deep breath and walked through the door. She saw him immediately, and after a single pause, walked directly to the table where he sat.

Tōga had been prepared for her sparkling eyes and her glowing skin; he was ready for her pursed lips and her flowing hair. He was ready for a smile or a frown. But… he was not prepared for the most important thing: _her scent._

Izayoi still smelled like the orange blossom and anise that he would always remember. But there were new notes to it that nearly knocked Tōga off his chair. There was salt, from tears she’d swallowed back down and… sandalwood and rain. Scents he knew came from her son, from _his son_. Scents that imprinted on his mind the moment that they’d wafted off of Izayoi’s clothing as she took her seat across from him.

“I-Izayoi…” Tōga stuttered, surprised at the unsuppressed longing he heard in his own voice.

“H—hi,” Izayoi stuttered back, and he could hear her heart skip a beat as he said her name. “I—Tōga… I should have—I-I’m…”

“I know,” Tōga said; he knew what she was going to say, and he could smell the tears beginning to pool in her eyes. “We—we have a lot to talk about.”

Their eyes met momentarily, and Izayoi nodded. Tōga raised his hand, and the barista set an enormous mug of hot chocolate in front of Izayoi.

“You remembered,” Izayoi said, looking down at the steaming chocolate topped with a cloud of whipped cream, and adorned with a powdered cocoa smiley face.

“You always hated coffee,” Tōga answered, remembering the time he asked her to get him a flat white and how she scrunched up her nose and asked him how he could drink something that tasted like hot chocolate left out so long it fermented.

Izayoi fingered the edge of the mug. Her eyes grew wide and began glistening as water pooled in them. The salt that infused the air from Izayoi’s uncried tears was potent enough to stop Tōga’s breath. Her lips started quivering, and her chest started heaving, as if a tidal wave of sadness (and dare he dream— _regret?_ ) was washing over her.

“I’m so so so so so sorry,” Izayoi stuttered, her tears finally breaking free of her eyes.

He couldn’t resist. His hand shot across the table, capturing hers in his. Just feeling her soft hand, protected by his again, pierced his heart. Then, Izayoi opened her hand and clasped his, the little trickles of affection started to fill the rest of his body with warmth, with _love_. A love that had never abated after she walked out of his life. But, even as Tōga’s chest was filling and his heart was calling out for her, he couldn’t let himself give in; not just yet.

“Were you… _ever_ planning on telling me?” Tōga asked, trying as hard as he could to ask the questions he’d rehearsed, because his mind wanted to forget everything else and just concentrate on Izayoi’s touch. A touch he didn’t understand until this moment just how much he _missed_.

“I… was…” Izayoi replied, her eyes fixed upon the place their hands were touching, “when he was older… when I wasn’t as worried about… well… about…”

“Had you… so little faith that I would protect you?” Tōga asked; it was another rehearsed question. And the tremble of Izayoi’s hand almost made him stop asking before he started, but… Izayoi’s choice had already meant 3 fewer years with his son.

“It was so bad Tōga. What she did to you,” Izayoi whispered, but she burrowed her hands further into Tōga’s. “And… here I was… the _other woman_. A _human_ no less… And then… when I found out I was pregnant? What—what would she have _done to you_ if she found out? To me? To _Inuyasha..._ ”  
  
_Inuyasha_. His son was named Inuyasha.

“Inuyasha…” Tōga tasted the word on his tongue.

“Y—yeah.” Izayoi finally turned her eyes—her _beautiful_ eyes—back to Tōga. “When I found out that he was a boy, I looked into Inu yōkai customs, to make sure his name—well, _fit_ him. And Inuyasha seemed _right_.”

“You gave our son a name fitting for my clan,” Tōga said, but even as his yōki was suppressing his emotions, he felt a tear pooling in his eye.

If he ever needed proof that Izayoi _would_ have told him, it was this. Their son was not named “John” or “Michael”, he was named _Inuyasha_. A name worthy of the son of the Inu no Taisho.

“I… I never intended to… keep him from you,” Izayoi whispered, “I just… I… I was _so afraid_.” Izayoi’s trembles had not abated. “I just thought about the _press_ … and how they hounded you relentlessly for even thinking about ending your marriage. Then… then… what if they found out who Inuyasha was? He—he’s the _sweetest boy_. And… he’s too young for—for the flashes of cameras and constant badgering… All because he had the misfortune of being born from my stupidity… I—I couldn’t do that to him. Not until… _not until_ it was safe. For him.”

Izayoi had broken eye contact once again, and her head hung low, trying to hide the tears that were splashing into her hot chocolate.

“I… would have protected you,” Tōga whispered, unable to resist leaning his head closer, letting his forehead touch hers, “with everything I was…” Tōga took a breath. “And… I will _never consider_ that night with you to be a night of stupidity.”

“Well, it gave me my sweet little boy,” Izayoi said, her voice barely audible; speaking for Tōga’s ears only.

“ _Our_ sweet little boy,” Tōga corrected.

In that moment, he saw the picture: his child, _Inuyasha_ , sitting on his shoulders as they walked along the river at night. Inuyasha, showing off his new drawing of Santa Claus with his list of toys (that dad would never be able to resist).

And he saw Izayoi, holding his hand, her skin aglow as they watched the sunset. He saw her under him, whispering his name as they made love quietly to avoid waking Inuyasha up. He saw the bright smile that used to greet him every day in the office waiting for him to get home to his family. _Their family_.

He was in love with Izayoi.  
And it had only taken a single glimpse for him to fall in love with Inuyasha too.

He’d known that forever. From the moment he hired her as his assistant. From the moment that it just became natural that his favorite part of the day was the moment he saw her. From the moment he kissed her back. From the moment he had sex with her on the carpet of his office. He loved Izayoi. And four years, a bitter divorce, and a surprise son had done nothing to diminish that. In fact, sitting there in the cafe, touching Izayoi’s hand and finding out his second son was named _Inuyasha_ , Tōga, despite himself, loved her _more_.

“I… I want to be in your life,” Tōga whispered, desperately. “I will _protect you_ , and I will _protect Inuyasha_.” He had so much more he wanted to say; he wanted to know where she’d gone, how she’d taken care of a hanyō with Inu energy, _whether she loved him back as desperately as he loved her_. But right now, he needed only one thing. “I want to be Inuyasha’s dad. More than anything, I want to be his dad.”

“Are… you _sure_?” Izayoi asked, pulling back just far enough that her forest brown eyes met his golden ones. “Because—if you’re in, then you need to be _in_.” 

“I’m _in_ ,” Tōga promised, “ _all in._ ”

He thought about telling Izayoi about the trust fund, about the college fund, about the… dreams of dressing as Santa Claus and holding hands while strolling through the park. But that could wait. The first step was meeting his son, and claiming him. And hopefully, coffee and dates and Santa Claus and family walks in the sunset would follow. At that moment, Tōga could settle for meeting the dog-eared silver-haired child named Inuyasha, _his son_ , whom he’d created on a wonderful night with the only woman he’d ever loved.

Izayoi made the most musical little huff, as if she was laughing and crying at the same time. Her hand, which so recently had been trembling, relaxed, and the smile that painted her lips gave her entire body an unearthly glow. As if, for the first time in three years, a great burden had finally been lifted off of her shoulders.

“Would… would you like to come and meet your son?” Izayoi asked, just before downing all the rest of her hot chocolate.

“More than _anything_ ,” Tōga exhaled.

The two left Witch’s Brew hand-in-hand. Tōga relished in Izayoi’s warmth, and in her tentative looks at him, as if she couldn’t quite believe that all it took was one glance and one coffee to reunite and start anew.

But that was the thing about love: it was hard to explain why it was okay. Why, even as he would mourn his lost three years, they’d found their way back to each other, through his cataclysmic divorce and her rapid departure from New York, through the birth of their _son_. Because somehow, Tōga knew, he’d found his _family_.

“Are you ready?” Izayoi asked, standing in front of the door to her parent’s house.

“Yes,” Tōga said, and they entered the house together.

The bright-eyed, dog-eared child looked at Tōga in wonder. Upon seeing Tōga’s form, his little ears pinned back and he scrambled behind a couch. But as Inuyasha’s head peeped out, his little clawed hands reached up to touch his own hair, as if confirming for himself that his hair was still silver, as silver as Tōga’s. It was the second moment that day that Tōga had to choke down tears.

“Inuyasha?” Izayoi held Tōga’s hand and led him further into the room, closer to his _son_. “This is Tōga, your daddy.” Izayoi knelt down near where Inuyasha was hiding. “Don’t worry. Your daddy is here to _protect_ you. He’s a _good_ yōkai, not a scary one.”

Had he the willpower, Tōga would have argued that he was in fact a “scary yōkai”; that if _anyone_ ever so much as threatened to lay a hand on Inuyasha or Izayoi, he'd tear down the world to punish them. But here and now, watching his son for the first time, seeing him pull on a strand of the silver hair that he had inherited from _him_ , his heart was too overfull to flesh out all the ways he would ‘contain’ the threat. Tōga's heart had spilled over, and he _knew_ that he would move heaven and earth to make Inuyasha smile, to make his little ears perk or wiggle, to make his wide apprehensive eyes beam with excitement.

Tōga kneeled down, inhaling the scent of sandalwood and rain—his son’s scent—and memorizing every subtle note to it. He looked into Inuyasha's eyes, molten amber, like his. He took in Inuyasha’s triangular ears, which were still facing back apprehensively, and how the downy fur on them blended seamlessly into his silver hair.

“Hello Inuyasha,” Tōga said, careful to project calm even as his inner demon wanted to reach out and embrace his _son_ proudly and lovingly, and nuzzle his little cheeks. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to finally meet you.”

Inuyasha seemed to consider the situation briefly, looking at Tōga, then back over at his mother, who nodded at him, giving silent assurance that it was safe, that _Tōga_ was safe.

It was all it took. Inuyasha crawled out from his hiding place, emboldened by the words of his mother and the gentleness of his father, and Tōga couldn’t hold back the choked chuckle that broke from him as he watched his son’s ears flip forward and wiggle excitedly.

“Want to play ball?” Inuyasha asked, grinning just enough that his little fangs peeped out of his mouth.

“I _do_ ,” Tōga answered, and he didn’t think he’d _ever_ wanted to do anything as much as he wanted to play ball with his son.

* * *

Once in a while, at sunset, a little family walked along the river path, enjoying the last fiery rays of the receding sun. On one side was a small human woman, with long black hair and eyes as deep as the woods but as warm as a hearth. On the other side was a great demon, with long hair that shone silver against the lights of the city. And in between, there was a small boy with shaggy silver hair and triangular canine ears atop his head.

“Mommy, daddy! Swing me higher!” Inuyasha often said, and let Izayoi and Tōga swing him as high as they dared, eliciting melodic and impish giggles at their game.

On this particular night, on Inuyasha’s fourth birthday, Tōga patted the box in his pocket that held a diamond ring: the promise of the _family_ that he’d seen on that cool fall day in the park with the multi-colored jungle gym.

And never in his life had he been so happy for a second chance.

[ ](https://nartista-digital.tumblr.com/post/640705496633966592/happy-family-keeping-the-inuparentsday-alive)

Artwork commission by [nartista](https://nartista-digital.tumblr.com)

* * *


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